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KARACHI: Four suspected militants involved in a bomb attack on Awami National Party’s rally in Karachi have been arrested by the Crime Investigation Department, SSP CID Aslam Khan informed Dawn on Sunday.

Eleven people were killed in the attack on the ANP rally at Mominabad area.

Police said ANP leader Bashir Jan was the target but he escaped unhurt.

Three political parties, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, PPP and ANP, have come under attack in recent days in Karachi by the militants which has forced them to restrict their election activities. On Saturday three people were killed in twin bomb blasts near the MQM stronghold Nine Zero in Azizabad.

According to the CID, the suspected militants belonged to the Fazlullah group of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat and were arrested from Katti Pahari on Friday. SSP Aslam named the suspects as Ziaullah alias Shaam, Farhad Khan alias Hamza, Rafiq Ahmed and Mohammad Ilyas alias Siddiqullah who, according to him, confessed during the investigation that they had attacked the ANP’s corner meeting in Mominabad on April 26.

The men also accepted responsibility for attacking the MQM’s corner meeting at Peoples Chowrangi, the CID head claimed. SSP Aslam explained that other men belonging to the same group were at large. That includes most wanted militants, Sajjad alias Langra and Abid alias Muchhar.

“The explosives were transported to Karachi via Quetta, Balochistan, through various buses. Their mastermind is said to be one Mustafa alias Jihadi who looks over the transfer of explosives, and is wanted in a lot of similar cases,” he added. During the raid on May 3, the CID team claimed to have recovered 75kg of explosives, two pressure cookers, six tennis ball bombs, four hand grenades, one Kalashnikov, one 222 rifle, two 9mm pistols, one remote control and a huge chunk of ball bearings and nut bolts. Improvised Explosive Devices have been used in most attacks on political parties’ offices, which SSP Aslam said was due to a change in the TTP’s strategy.